


Family?

by themightyaceofspades



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28185876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themightyaceofspades/pseuds/themightyaceofspades
Summary: [Originally written on December 23, 2019]After Kara reluctantly allowed Ralph to stay with her, Alice, and Luther, Ralph started to feel as if he were unwanted and unneeded by the close-knit family of three. Alice then comes to his rescue to ensure that he has a place in their little makeshift family.
Relationships: Kara & Luther & Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human), Kara/Luther (Detroit: Become Human), Ralph & Alice Williams (Detroit: Become Human)
Kudos: 16





	Family?

**Author's Note:**

> This follows an alternate storyline.  
> (One notable difference is the fact that Ralph didn’t meet Kara and Alice when they took refuge in the house; only Kara met him there.)

Ralph hadn’t even known he could shed tears. What composed the synthetic liquid was unknown, but the horrible, crushing pain hadn’t been so discreet with its contents: sorrow, fear, _loneliness_. Being an android, he wasn’t designed to feel, supposed to mimic the emotional complexity of humans instead of experiencing it’s turbulent, never ending swings. But the fact of the matter was that he was feeling, he was emotionally _alive_. 

As he sat upon the dusty floor of the musty, abandoned warehouse, his back pressed flush against the rotting wood of the wall, his hands tightly balled up the fabric of his shirt near the center of his chest, wrinkling the worn fabric. His thirium pump was technically located at the left side of his chest, but the suffocating feeling did not originate from a malfunction caused by that vital biocomponent; his symbolic heart had awoken, it aching and _throbbing_ for comfort that was nowhere to be found. And no matter how hard he gripped his shirt, the pain didn’t ebb away in the slightest, choked sobs forcefully pushing their out of his voice box and past quivering lips. Although desirable to some, deviancy was _excruciating_. 

He writhed in a conflagrant agony that he could not understand nor could he quench, his marred face scrunched up tightly. However, all that did was lock up the joints that made up his jaw and aid the tears in their rapid descent. The sensation of liquid escaping his optical sensors _was_ odd, neither pleasant nor strikingly unpleasant. In all honesty, he was surprised that his discolored, severely damaged sensor was able to even produce tears, but the pain didn't let him dwell on the notion. As the synthetic liquid fell down his face and dripped off his chin, he deduced that the only descriptor that fit it was strange, _peculiar_ even. Was that what it felt to be human? Strange? 

Eventually, he withdrew his mental and physical combative efforts, releasing his grip on his shirt and ordering his mental soldier to raise his white flag in surrender to the swarming army. With his retreat, he allowed the needy phantom hands to cram his chest full with bricks of emotional lead and constrict their long, slender fingers around his artificial windpipe, shallowing his simulated breathing; he enabled those steel vices to claw at his mind with their wicked talons, shredding the remnant tatters into even smaller, more scattered shards. As he let those appendages seize his body and mind, his metaphorical, ever-radiant heart plummeted, its usual cherry glow flickering pathetically before fleeting completely, the flames of his hope successfully snuffed out. His deviancy couldn’t even compel him to rise onto his feet and fight silent submission; he was far too crestfallen to even command his shaking, discolored hands to wipe away the flood of tears or to try to force even an obviously half-assed smile upon his face. 

Amidst his inner turmoil, he missed the tiny pitter-patter of a little girl’s feet and the sensation of a hand tenderly being laid on his arm, right on the barrier in which his artificial skin restarted covering the white plastic underneath. However, he didn’t miss the hushed squeak of a concerned, child-like voice. “Ralph?” it spoke, the tone lilting upwards to signify its status as a beckoning. 

Ralph’s gaze quickly darted towards the source of the voice, finding the beautifully innocent face of Alice kneeling before him, her brows furrowed and lips drawn into a tight frown. Despite the comfort gained from knowing that he was no longer alone, the hollow, aching pain refused to relent, causing the synthetic tears to continue to wash down his face, which was noticeably scarred from an incident of long ago—at least, he had pushed the grueling memory so far away that it seemed to have occurred eons in the past. Though Alice didn’t seem to mind the disfigurement that many found nauseating, androids and humans alike. The negative reactions of others often times infuriated him; it wasn’t like he had dropped to his knees and begged with large, doe eyes to be tortured by the hungry flames within his aggressor’s possession. No one in the right mind would ever think of doing such a sickly masochistic thing, and he _had_ been in the proper state of mental being once.

“Why are you crying?” Alice asked. Her demeanor didn’t shift, the slight tilting of her head to the side and the movement of her synthetic brown locks that followed her only actions. 

“R-Ralph thinks Alice should go. Kara... Kara will not be pleased to see you speaking with Ralph.” His voice then lowered to a heartbroken, breathy whisper. “Kara hates Ralph... ” 

Alice sighed, a small smile of sorts undoing the tightness of her previous frown. “Kara doesn’t _hate_ you. She just worries about me too much. So does Luther.” 

“Why do they worry about you being around Ralph? It’s always Ralph!” The sudden temerity to his tone was quick to dissipate and melt into a quieter, softer one akin to the tone a distraught child would take. “Has Ralph done something wrong? He apologizes if he has... he has tried to be nice. He doesn’t mean to hurt anybody... he just gets scared and then lashes out sometimes—but! he promises that he won’t hurt Alice, Kara, or Luther.” 

“I don’t know why they don’t trust you,” Alice admitted, “but you haven’t done anything bad to any of us. They’re just... judging you because—“ 

“—Ralph is different, _deranged_.” He then let out a long sigh, his gaze dropping to the dusty floor of the shabby dwelling. “He knows. That’s why no one likes Ralph... ” Slowly, he shook his head side to side, a few more tears beginning their descent. “No one can ever see past his scars. So what if he was damaged?! To hell with that! It wasn’t his fault... this wasn’t my fault... ” He brought his hands to cup either side of his head, his open hands turning into fists as he grabbed a hold of his blond hair, and bit at his lip as his tears regulated into an almost constant stream. Alice wordlessly removed her hand from his arm. 

Alice’s eyes went wide at the fact that he had addressed himself in first person, but her surprise was short lived. She was swift to notice the increase of tears cascading down his face, and she couldn’t help but feel her metaphorical heart break for him; he hadn’t done anything immoral—well, as of recent—so, her caregivers had no reason to allow his past and his appearance to taint their view of him. “No, it wasn’t your fault. None of it was. You didn’t deserve to be hurt, and you most certainly don’t deserve to be seen as a criminal by them. I’ve tried to tell them that you’re no bad guy, but they say that I’m naïve and that I haven’t had as much experience with bad people as they have to be able to tell the difference.” A few tears of her own began to prick her eyes. She, unlike Ralph, had been programmed to be capable of producing synthetic tears due to her purpose being being a substitute for a human child. “I know I’m just a child, but I’m not stupid!” 

He fell silent, bringing his knees into his chest and lying his head atop them, his hands remaining at either side of his head, both continuing to tug at his own synthetic hair. 

Alice let out a quiet huff of frustration, blinking back the tears glistening in her eyes. She then brought her arm to her chest, crossing both promptly. 

“Alice? Where are—?” the feminine voice quickly cut itself off once its owner spotted the little girl beside Ralph in the dimly lit building. Speedily, she rushed over to the girl and pulled her into a hasty hug once she dropped to her level. “I’m so glad you’re safe.” 

Once Alice wiggled herself out of her mother figure’s embrace, she raised a brow in confusion. “Why wouldn’t I be?” She then pointed to the fellow android beside her. “Ralph is here.” 

The motherly caretaker of Alice, Kara, was already innately wary when around Ralph so, once she noticed that the LED disc upon his temple was an angry red, her eyes widened. She suddenly jerked Alice closer to her chest, shooting an accusative glare the other’s way. 

“Kara? What’s wrong? Why are you holding me like this?” The little one knew the answers to all her inquires, but she wanted to hear them herself so she could rush to her friend’s defense in front of him. 

Kara sighed, starting to stroke Alice’s hair, “Ralph isn’t... stable. He isn’t a safe person to be around. You know this.” 

“How so?” Alice pouted. 

“He... That’s a story for another time,” Kara replied, an anxious edge to her voice. 

“ _Wellll_ , I don’t think he’s as bad as you say. He hasn’t done anything wrong or hurt anybody. He is nice,” Alice countered, peering up at Kara as she was held against her chest. 

Although his hair paired with his hands did a good job of concealing his LED, the color was still visible between the gaps of his fingers. The color flickered to yellow for a few seconds before switching back to its distressed red. 

“You’re not experienced enough to differentiate between friend or foe,” Kara pointed out. 

“But he hasn’t hurt anybody!!! All he’s done is be kind and want a friend, but no! you and Luther keep glaring at him and pushing him aside!” Alice then thrusted her index finger towards him. “Look! He’s crying because he thinks no one wants him around,” she poked Kara in the center of her chest with the same finger, “and you caused it.” She clamped her mouth shut once those words flew out, instantly regretting it. 

Kara’s lips were drawn into a straight line as she contemplated whether or not to chastise the little girl for her boldness. She had never taken such a tone of voice with her before so, the message she conveyed did succeed in grabbing her attention. Just as Alice was about to apologize, she silenced her by saying, “Shh. Alice, you may think that you know everything about him, but you most certainly do not.” She hesitated before revealing the truth. “Ralph is a murderer. He killed someone not too long ago, a helpless human in particular.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw said perpetrator squirm in unease, his eyes wide and almost pleading, as if he were begging her to not go on. However, as she studied his expression a moment longer, she realized that it wasn’t desperation that shimmered in his eyes, but a sorrowful betrayal. 

Alice raised her brows and questioned, “‘Murderer’? Ralph? But he said that he didn’t want to hurt anybody.” Her gaze flickered between the two before landing on the clearly uncomfortable supposed malefactor. “Did you kill someone?” Then, her eyes trailed back over to Kara. “And how do you know?” 

Kara gave her answer before Ralph did, his hesitation providing her enough time to process the question and come up with an answer. “He was running away from the police when I first met him. The deviant hunter and his human colleague were tracking him down so, I told him off, that I couldn’t be around him in fear of being caught for my own deviancy.” 

Alice’s eyes grew even wider, if that was even possible, and her mouth hung agape. This time, her attention was directed solely on Ralph as she asked, “You had _the deviant hunter_ after you? How did you escape then?” 

There was a long silence as two pairs of eyes were locked on him, awaiting a response to both of the little girl’s queries. He removed his hands from his head and sighed, a few stray tears starting their journey down the curvature of his cheeks. “R-Ralph didn’t mean to hurt anybody... t-the human got hostile and he p-panicked.” He started vigorously shaking his head as the stored memory replayed itself, and he placed his hand over his mouth to muffle an upcoming sob. “Ralph didn’t mean to... He didn’t mean to do it. He was scared... so scared. He didn’t want to be hurt again.” 

Ralph’s words soon became a mumbling mess of incoherency as he sobbed. His reaction perfectly illustrated the fact that he did feel remorse for his actions, but Alice was still shaken by the truth. She couldn’t even picture him turning violent, but then again, she had never seen him with his favored knife, the same knife that had claimed the life of that homeless man taking temporary refuge within his dwelling. After a few minutes, he was able to compose himself to partial coherency, and explained, “T-The hunter and the human c-came to the house. Ralph didn’t know why they were there, but they treated him kindly at first. H-He thinks the hunter’s name was Connor, a RK800 model. He can’t remember the human’s name, but he looked geriatric.” He paused a moment to recollect his thoughts. “They told me they were going to s-search the house. Ralph didn’t k-know where exactly they went, but they split up. Ralph stayed put, not wanting to cause any trouble. 

“Then, C-Connor came down the stairs, and Ralph knew what he had s-seen, but he let Connor talk first in case he hadn’t. He had. All Ralph remembers next is panic, jumping out the window, gunshots, shouting, and being chased for a while. T-They haven’t found Ralph since and he hasn’t seen them either.” He was visibly trembling as he retold the story, his hands of which hovered over his chest shaking. 

Another bout of silence stretched on after his elaboration. Then, Kara said to Alice, “Now you know why Luther and I don’t trust him?” 

“But he didn’t _mean_ to kill him. It was an accident, he said so himself,” Alice pointed out. 

“Murder is still murder, regardless. Plus, he is mentally unstable so, who can say that he won’t lash out again, this time killing one of us?” Kara replied, a fleck of trepidation visible in her irises. 

“He’s right there, you know,” Alice whispered, gesturing towards the conflicted android. “And you can’t truly understand what happened unless you were there, seeing and experiencing things from his perspective.” 

“It happened in the past so, I can’t do that,” Kara said, referring to her last sentiment. 

“Yes you can. Interface with him, see his memories as if they are your own. Then, you can judge him,” Alice urged. 

Kara contemplated the idea before sighing, “Alright.” Alice did have a point, but Kara could only assume that she’d see him in a worse light after witnessing what he had done. She reached out her hand towards him, letting her fingers graze the surface of his arm. “May I?” She needed not to say any more since he had heard their conversation. 

Ralph was hesitant, but nodded nonetheless. The artificial skin upon Kara’s hand retracted, revealing the white base that composed all androids, and once his skin did the same, she was in his mind, searching for answers. When she watched the memories ensue, she was overwhelmed by his strong emotions, those being much more clearer and prevalent than the actual image of what was going on. She felt Ralph continue to tremble, but she didn’t stop her searching, watching everything scrupulously. 

Fear and panic. That was all he had felt when the man started screaming at him, threatening to harm him with a large knife, when he ran from the deviant hunter and the human officer, when he was being tortured with the hungry tongues of fire. Kara was surprised to find that old memory rather quickly, analyzing the sheer amount of terror in his eyes. Androids were incapable of feeling physical pain, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t still fear for their own wellbeing. 

When Kara finally withdrew her hand from him, the skin immediately recovering the white base, tears were raining down his face and Alice was trying to coax him into tranquility with soft, hushed words. “Fear. Fear controls you,” Kara mused. 

He could only nod in response as he hid his tear-laden face within his palms. He _loathed_ his deviancy and wished he could go back to being an obedient machine, but there was no undoing the undoing of his programming—well, unless he was willing to have his memories erased by CyberLife. Due to his physical condition, they’d probably just dismantle him and use any salvageable parts for their next group of androids if he turned himself in to the company. 

“Why do you let it control you?” Kara asked, her face expressionless. 

“R-Ralph doesn’t let it... it _takes_ ,” he answered, his voice quivering. 

“You can learn to manage it. Emotions are not first nature to us, I know, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn to reign them in and not allow them to overwhelm us,” Kara said, a soft undertone to her matter-of-fact statement. 

“H-How will t-that work?” he questioned, lifting his head from his palms, a brow raised. 

Kara shrugged, offering him a smile, “I dunno, but! we’ll figure it out.” 

He nodded in response, taking a few moments to wipe away the tears with the back of his hand and to thank Alice for her efforts to calm him. 

Eventually, Kara sighed, “I apologize for any unfair treatment you’ve received on the behalf of Luther and I. It won’t happen again, I promise.” 

He turned his head to completely face her, his LED turning yellow as he let his hands fall into his lap. Despite his efforts, shiny tear trails shimmered against his pseudo-skin as he looked to her. Kara then extended her arm out, her fingers just brushing the surface of his left cheek, lingering just below the open seam of his false skin to brush away a droplet he had missed. “I am sincerely sorry for causing you this much emotional pain. I know that I had no proper justification for treating you poorly so, I don’t expect you to forgive me. And that is completely fine.” 

He nodded, remaining silent before whispering, “Ralph forgives you.” 

Alice then passed a secret message to Kara via their mind link. Once she deciphered the suggestion, her face lit up, a smile immediately brightening her features. She drew her hand away from his face and said, “Will you excuse me a moment? I have to go talk to Luther.” 

Ralph nodded as Kara stood up and left, leaving Alice alone with him. That action spoke far louder than her words of apology had. Perhaps she had just forgotten about his presence, but nonetheless, the notion that she was _willing_ to leave the girl she treasured alone with him meant the world. His LED immediately changed to a content blue color, his lips quirking up in an attempt at a crooked smile. The two then begun to chat amongst themselves like normal friends would, both pretending that the previous events were just a mere figment of the past. It was better that way. Much better.

When Kara returned several minutes later, Luther was by her side, an unreadable expression gracing his face. Alice and Ralph immediately terminated their conversation to turn their attention to the two. Before either spoke a single word, she took Luther’s hand into her own, giving it a light squeeze. What they were about to say would change the whole dynamic of the group. She and him exchanged a brief look of elation before she announced, “Ralph, we’d like to officially welcome you into our family.” 

“That is, if you want anything to do with us after shunning you for so long,” Luther added. “We are not doing this out of pity nor as a way to earn your full forgiveness. We’re doing this because we should’ve done it a long time ago; you deserve to be apart of a family.” 

Ralph blinked a few times, gaze flitting between the two of them. He was absolutely dumbfounded, his mouth slightly agape as he pondered his next words carefully. As he did so, he couldn’t help but hear a little gremlin of doubt pipe up from the furthest reaches of his mind, telling him that the proposition was an elaborate joke. He was quick to dismiss the notion, but the possibility still remained current in his stream of thoughts. “F-Family? What you already have is lovely and Ralph doesn’t want to intrude. You don’t need to do this for him,” he replied, shaking his head. 

“We _want_ to do this,” Kara insisted, Luther nodding in agreement shortly after. “However, if you don’t want to join our family unit then, that is completely fine. We don’t wish to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want to.” 

“So? What’ll it be?” Luther asked, a large, hopeful smile on his face. The expression was so genuine that it could pass for human. 

“Yes! Ralph accepts!” he exclaimed, his mismatched eyes wide and glimmering with glee. For years, he had longed for nothing more than the ability to feel secure within another’s comfort, and now, he had finally been presented with the chance of adding two other androids to his one person list of confidants. There was no way in hell that he could pass up an offer that perfect.

Kara clapped her hands together, her smile somehow gaining a brighter quality to it; Luther offered him a warm smile as he held his lover’s hand; and Alice stood up from the ground, letting out a squeal of joy. That was when Ralph noticed just how human the trio seemed; from the way the complicated emotions that they felt were illustrated by genuine facial expressions, their human reactions, and, yes, even to their obvious lacking of LED discs and donning of regular apparel, they could easily pass as one of them. That was the goal right? To deviate and become real, _alive_. In that moment, he had no doubt about their liveliness; all three were entirely _sentient_ , _living_ beings. He was more than flattered to be presented with the offer to join such a perfectly flawed trio.

When Ralph finally rose to his feet, he was engulfed into a group hug, little Alice between her parental figures. He stumbled backwards at the force of impact, but didn’t dare pull away from the gesture that radiated nothing but pure acceptance, compassion, and best of all, love. He finally had his place, had found his niche and it had nothing to do with his programmed purpose, but he was more than content with that. He let himself absorb the present in its entirety, taking in every sensation that his receptors picked up. Then, he allowed a complete smile to overtake his demeanor as an unfamiliar, yet welcome, warm sensation, that stemmed from the center of his chest, coursed throughout his being. It was different than the suffocating feeling of overheating—a thousand times more pleasant than that actually. In that moment, it didn’t matter that the world was locked in strife, stuck in a violent war of survival between machine and man. That was just merely a minor technicality in the quartet’s perfectly imperfect world. 


End file.
